User blog:4Ferelden/A possible plotline for ME4.
On this wiki there’s now a huge debate about the feasibility of sequels (or even just prequels/interquels) to our beloved Mass Effect. I have decided to contribute and design what I think could be a possible storyline for Mass Effect 4, set 50 to 80 years after ME3. Prologue The Reaper War has been the greatest challenge the galactic community has known. Yet, it has been overcome where no other cycle has done so before, thanks to the unprecedented effort of the entire galaxy and heroism of the Commander Shepard. It was through their actions in the Battle for Earth that the Crucible has been activated to save the races of the galaxy from certain annihilation. Yet, the price was huge. The combined casualties from all stages of war have reached trillions. Living conditions for the main planets have not recovered until the 22__ (insert the appropriate number, varies depending on the ending chosen). The damage to the relays has caused great disruption as the planets have become isolated from each other and from intergalactic trade. Many of them have suffered famines and medical crises of varying scale: some have even lost all their original population as the result. The Relays were eventually restored across the galaxy, but by that time some planets have been cut off from the rest of the galaxy for decades. Their technology, living conditions and culture have all become vastly different to that of the majority of the galaxy. As the galactic contact has been re-established, the unthinkable happened: the people on the most isolated planets felt a greater sense of unity with each other, regardless of race, than with their official governments. This has resulted in the formation of political factions aimed to form a single confederation of the most isolated planets, separate from the authority of the Citadel Council or the centralised governments of their species – the movement broadly known as Isolationists. Within the Citadel itself, there have also been drastic changes. Asari, traditionally the oldest and most influential specie in the Citadel, have greatly suffered from the Reaper War, with their influence drastically diminishing as the result. The humanity, while being the Galaxy’s saviour specie, has suffered even more, with (1.7 million X the number of days Reapers held the Earth) dying on the Earth alone and therefore had mostly formal influence on the political matters. Instead, the power vacuum was filled by the salarians, who were only attacked late in the war and therefore emerged relatively unscathed and their specie’s adaptability has allowed them to take control of most important matters in the galaxy, especially when it came to researching the Reaper/Cerberus technology. Outside the Citadel space, the power balance had also shifted strongly from its pre-war positions. Batarians, so feared before the war, were reduced to a few fleets and their specie’s reputation had ensured that it would stay that way. The pirates and mercenaries of the Terminus Systems have both lost a lot from the war and were effectively driven out of business by the damage done to the Relays. One’s loss is always someone else’s gain, and the post-war times have seen the rise of volus and elcor. The two species have always been friendly and the Reaper War had seen their friendship re-forged in blood. Once the relays have been restored, volus have applied their reverse-engineering skills and wealth and gained the greatest from the former Reaper technology. They have used it not only to drastically improve their fleet and vehicle park, but also to augment their elcor allies, whose greatest weaknesses – the ponderous movement and slow wit – are being increasingly addressed by the joint implants and computer aids, the latter speeding up the elcor thought to allow them to communicate and respond as fast as the rest of the galaxy. The two species have now been emboldened and are poised to openly challenge the power of the Citadel. Ending Variations Destroy: The salarian – volus/elcor balance is shifted strongly towards the salarians and the Isolationists are the weakest and also most alienated from Citadel, as the Relays take the longest to repair in this ending and there is comparatively little Reaper technology left, meaning that the elcor/volus augmentations are at their weakest and there has been the greatest technological/cultural gap between Isolationists and others. Control: The salarian/volus balance is relatively equal. The Isolationists aren’t as alienated as in Destroy and have the greatest technological development out of three endings because of the help from Shepbringer. The latter doesn’t participate in the upcoming conflict because it feels that it has done enough influence and stabilisation in the galaxy and doesn’t want to interfere with what it perceives as natural development in the galaxy. Synthesis: (this one is obviously the most complex, so I may change what I have here many times) Sadly, the supposed happiness and organic-synthetic development that EDI has envisioned was not to be. The newly rewritten DNA was fragile and began to crumble under environmental factors, the original DNA filling in the gaps. While the fundamental influence had remained, the supposed mind link has become fractured and unwanted amongst the general populace, completely falling apart after (the date varies based on the amount of EMS you had). The various biological effects are still poorly understood, with some advancing the species and others being downright detrimental. The individuals and groups were greatly influenced by the mind link while it changed, but just as they could see that we all have our good, we also just as corrupt deep down. Eventually, the traditional ways of thinking prevailed over more extremist ideas on either spectrum, although certain groups and individuals remain tied to those. The effects of this did help the elcor and volus greatly, as their controlled augmentations functioned smoothly alongside the re-written DNA and propelled them ahead in terms of galactic power. The Isolationists are least alienated in this scenario and are closer to the rest of the galaxy. Besides that, I would have about 20 unique codex entries for each ending, and some more depending on the races being spared or destroyed. All in all, I expect the ending/race variations to be somewhat like origins in DA:O: unique, customised sections of the game giving you unique look at certain event/group of people and I wouldn't expect them to take up much more work than the origins. Potentially Extinct Races Consisting of rachni, krogan, quarians, geth, and maybe hanar and drell, these races wouldn’t play as much role as those factions highlighted in the prologue. Nevertheless, they will still have a lot of dialogue and side quests if present, and will also boost certain factions with their presence: geth are Isolationists’ icons and provide a guiding example for them, quarians are hated by the Isolationists due to the many of their planets being ravaged by the quarian resource-grabs and are affiliated with volus and elcor, as they see many similarities between these species struggle for recognition and their own. Rachni support the Council as the Queen is eager to cooperate with those who previously saved them and worked alongside them on Crucible and krogan will be present no matter what, due to their longevity. If Shepard has cured the genophage, they will be closer to the Council as they see volus/elcor rise as a threat to their worlds and possible expansion in the future, but if the genophage cure was destroyed, they will despise the salarians once more and work with the volus/elcor in hopes that their technology may engineer a cure. In both cases, there will probably be a certain fraction of the krogan with the Isolationists. Leviathans Since they have appeared in the recent DLC, the enigmatic Reapers' ancestors have often been thought of as the main enemy of Mass Effect 4. I'm against this, as it would simply be too boring to fight them just after defeating the Reapers and the idea that they would be the same or greater threat than the Reapers from whom they had to flee for millions of years is ridiculous. However, this doesn't mean that they should simply be ignored, as they are far too important and interesting to be left alone. Here's what I consider to be the best way to handle them: somewhere in the 2/3 of the ME4, there are reports of the unknown ship designs appearing in the Yahg sector. Near the end, it will be revealed that the Yahg have in fact managed to become a space-faring race and evolved tremendously since the Reaper War. Their forces will then feature extensively in the ME5, and in that game, you will find out that they have been uplifted by the Leviathans, who are now enthralling them like in their old days. Adversaries Firstly, I'm still not sure as to whether you'll get to fight troops from all three sides in this version or not, but I have nevertheless thought of what potentially interesting developments could have happened in those years. Here's the Isolationists' roster: Isolationists Lacking in the advanced, post-Reaper technology of the New STG or the reverse-engineering and the production capability of volus-elcor alliance, Isolationists have been forced to make up for that in sheer inventiveness and means of asymmetrical warfare. Suppression mech Suppression mech is a LOKI Mech upgraded by the Isolationists to an exclusive support role. They always wield two M-4 Shurikens one at a time to provide sustained hail of uninterrupted cover-fire. The reloading is handled by the automated holsters to their sides, with the mech beginning to fire its second M-4 right before the first empties the clip. In close combat, it retains the original LOKI’s capability to discourage its enemies with electric burst. To withstand improved weaponry on the modern battlefield, their frames were also reinforced with additional armour, often scavenged from the grim aftermath of the Reaper War. Liberator mech Liberator is an extensive redesign of the original LOKI mech, geared towards assault role. It is tougher and faster than the original LOKI, with its own shield generator and greatly improved armour. In combat it charges at its foes, continually shooting at them with its Tempest. Once it closes in, Liberator will begin to infrequently fire the AT-12 Raider embedded in its lower body, slowing down to increase stability and counter the effects of recoil, as well as simply attacking in melee with the combat blade attachment. The electroshock capability of original LOKI has luckily been removed to make space for the Raider recoil shock absorbers. Dawn Adept The Dawn Adepts are some of the Isolationists’ most important troops on the battlefield due to their ability to use Flare, with their entire strategy built around it. Their only armament is an M-6 Carnifex with Ultr-Light mod in order to save weight, which they will typically blind-fire from cover until their Flare recharges. If their allies are close enough to the enemy to guarantee friendly-fire, they will instead incapacitate the select foes with Reave. They’re allocated a single Medi-gel out of the Isolationists’ scarce resources due to their combat importance. Vorcha suicide bombers Exactly what it says on the tin. The deterioration of the post-Reaper War years have allowed for a spike in vorcha population amongst backward planets and made them increasingly expendable in the eyes of their inhabitants. As such, many are now loaded with explosives and sent towards the enemy ranks. They’re conditioned to run at very high speeds and can often roll to avoid enemy fire. If low on health and with cover close by, they will hide there and either wait for their health to regenerate before resuming their charge or stay there until the enemy gets close enough to guarantee success. Many are instructed to do the latter in defensive engagements, not betraying their presence until the last moment. Saracino Guard (Note: That is probably more of joke unit, but it doesn’t stop it from being any less lethal.) The Saracino Guards are inspired by the words and actions of Charles Saracino and consider him a prophet who successfully predicted the current era. His more xenophobic ideas have been toned down over the years; nevertheless, most members are humans, with a sizeable contingent of salarian dissidents. They’re equipped with Locust submachine guns, and are entrusted with preciously rare Armor-Piercing Ammo, allowing them to ignore the enemy cover and volus military’s shields. Their tech members will also Sabotage their enemy’s weapons (and can reverse the effects of Sabotage on their mechs in this manner), the soldiers get rid of shields and barriers with Concussive Shots, while the biotic members possess Shockwaves. They are heavily armoured and shielded, and possess two medi-gel packs per person. TYR mech TYR mech, is an Isolationist redesign of the YMIR mech to provide feasible long-range firepower. Its targeting systems have undergone powerful and time-intensive upgrades with all technological know-how available to the Isolationists. Its missile launcher has been taken out and replaced with two simultaneously firing Raptor sniper rifles, allowing it to accurately engage hostiles at extreme range and forcing them to stay into cover for longer than ever. The machine gun has also been replaced with M-622 Avalanche in order to slow down the enemies that left cover and prevent them from dodging the sniper rifles’ shots. HADES mech This modification to the original YMIR design is redesigned for the close-quarters engagements. Instead of a machine gun it possesses a heavy flamethrower (which may or may not be dual Firestorm), with the gas tank/s armoured to reduce the likelihood of explosive rupture. Due to the HADES’ size, any such rupture is also unable to destroy the mech, although it disable the flamethrower. The other weapon is a grenade launcher, which in rare cases have been upgraded with multi-frag grenades. Conclusion Well, this is what I have. I believe that this is a workable plotline for Mass Effect sequels and it has significant advantages of addressing the player’s past choices quite well, not being set too far into the future and showing us more of the forgotten races of the original trilogy. Tell me what you think in the comments! Category:Blog posts